Mike, I would guess that the answer to your question is based on official vs. unofficial exchange rates. The best example I've seen of this is when I traveled from West Berlin to East Berlin before the wall came down. According to the East Germans, their Mark was equal in value to the West German Mark. So if you bought East German Marks in East Berlin, you would get one Mark for each West German Mark. But since the money was worthless outside of East Germany, you could get 10 East German Marks for each West German Mark if you bought them in West Berlin before crossing through Checkpoint Charlie. It really made things in the East very cheap. Thats probably what is happening here. Officially the exchange rates hold inside Afghanistan, but outside the country, their money is probably worthless.